Dim Sum

A popular dim sum dish and tasty appetizer. You can always use fresh shiitake mushrooms but rehydrated dried shiitakes have a distinctively earthy flavor which I prefer. The filling is a classic combination of shrimp and ground pork, a bit of fresh ginger and garlic, chopped napa cabbage, minced water chestnuts (for texture) and seasoned with sesame oil, black pepper, soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and rice wine.

I've had some version of these dumplings in a couple of Dim Sum restaurants over the years but can't seem to find a recipe for it in any of my cookbooks or online, so I decided to concoct my own. You can use Gyoza or dumpling wrappers for the wrappers, since they are readily available in most mainstream supermarkets.

Another dim sum staple. Many moons ago (circa 1986), my grandmother did a test run of this recipe on one of her weekend cook fests at my apartment in Montebello. It was fantastic, and I've been striving, out of nostalgia, to duplicate her perfect rendition. After much trial and error, I've come to the conclusion that too much rice flour makes the radish cake one tough cookie. So here's the refined version.

Jellyfish salad, a refreshingly light dish tossed with fresh cucumber, carrots, daikon radish, red chilies, and a dressing of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic, was a staple in my childhood in Taiwan. Oddly enough, I never knew I was actually eating "jellyfish" (yup, not a euphemism for some mysterious marine plant, a la seaweed, but the real deal) until I was an adult and living in LA. As kids, my sister and I were both stung by these suckers while t

This dish is a popular item on the Dim Sum menu. They are not beef balls a la Rocky Mountain oysters, but rather steamed meatballs made from finely minced ground beef that has first been marinated in baking soda (helps to tenderize), then seasoned with, amongst other things, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, pepper, minced ginger, cilantro, and a small amount of grated orange peel. The addition of cornstarch, egg white and water makes the meatballs extra smooth, moist, lig